It’s been a tough month. 90% of our Island is still without electricity and 50% still has no safe drinking water. Little by little the situation post Maria is getting better but there is still a way to go. Over this past month we all have done all we can to help our families regain some level of normality and to help others that fared worse than we did. At the risk of sounding tone deaf we needed recharging to continue the fight.
Our wine group had not met for 6 weeks and we needed the support of each other and of some great wines. We dug into the cellars and looked at Burgundy for some soul replenishing juice.
Flight 1:
1986 DRC RSV - Beautiful mature clear color and good brightness. Terciary nose and fruit yet fully alive and the acidity carried the long finish.
1989 DRC RSV - Bright cherry fruit, elegant, long, with some drying tannins that clipped the finish.
1990 DRC RSV - This wine was completely primary. Bright fruit was the main aspect of the wine and it has the acidity to carry that fruit for a long time. Will it develop into the beauty of the 86?
The connection of the RSV terroir was present in all wines and it was a canvas for the vintage created variations on the theme.
Flight 2:
1995 Confuron RSV - Solid wine with good stuffing. Without the company of the DRC line up it might have fared better. It was overshadowed though.
1996 DRC RSV - Wow, wow, wow. I guess this is what a perfect wine tastes and smells like. Incredible secondary aromas of earth and sous bios frame a sweet cherry powerful fruit. The finish is very long and the balance betweeen fruit and acidity is majestic.
1998 DRC RSV - This wine was primary and a bit closed. It does have the stuffing to develop.
It was interesting to see the difference between the Confuron and the DRC. The DRC clearly had a link to the terroir of the first flight while the Confuron showed a totally different expression of the land.
Flight 3:
1982 DRC La Tache - Totally majestic wine. Madeira like color clearly communicated the age and development and the terciary aromas and flavors were awe inspiring. La Tache is certainly an amazing wine and terroir.
1998 Leroy Richebourg - Another wow wine but in a totally different way. It clearly had the Madame’s style of ripe fruit and a bit of reductive feel. The wine felt manufactured versus the DRC RSV. Certainly a different style but provided a lot of pleasure.
2003 Bouchard La Romanee - This wine had the 2003 ripeness but over time in the glass the fruit really came through and shed the fat. The purity of the fruit that came out was really impressive. Amazing wine.
Flight 4:
1995 Jacques Prieur Musigny - We certainly left Vosne Romanee here. This wine had in common with the Leroy the manufactured feeling. Chaptalized? It was sweet, but hollow, and the hand of man was more present than the land.
2001 Jacques Prieur Musigny - Same as above. The 1996 acidity made the wine feel more complete but stilll not a great Musigny.
1996 Drouhin Musigny - Now this is more like it. This wine tasted like a Musigny. Elegant yet powerful with a superb balance of fruit, weight, and acidity.
We all felt humbled at being able to indulge in these wines in the midst of everything going on in Puerto Rico. This is a tasting the we will never forget. More than once during the tasting the generator gave out and we were left in total darkness. It was a good metaphor for how we all felt. The tasting was a ray of bright light inside a month long constant physical and spiritual darkness. Hopefully this burst of energy will help us derive energy to keep helping others.
